


What Happens in the Shadows

by nickel_1321



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra (She-Ra)-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Glimmer (She-Ra) is a Good Friend, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Adora (She-Ra), Mentioned Horde Prime
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24744181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickel_1321/pseuds/nickel_1321
Summary: Glimmer feels guilty about what Catra must have gone through after she rescued her. Glimmer seeks her out to understand the full scope of what Catra went through on Prime's ship. Adora finds them and gets jealous. Glimmer suggests Adora go talk to Catra and get her to open up to her. Catra goes through all that happened on Prime's ship.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 161





	What Happens in the Shadows

After settling down from getting back to Etheria, Glimmer approached Catra who was on her own giving Melog some attention. Glimmer had been wanting to talk to Catra for a while but due to the fact that there was no privacy on the ship she thought it better to wait. Glimmer walked over to the duo knowing that now wasn't the time either but hopefully later they could sneak off and talk.

“Hey, Catra.” Glimmer stood in front of the girl who had jolted a bit not having expected anyone to come talk to her.

“Hey Sparkles, need something?” Catra looked up at the other girl having stopped petting Melog who also looked in the direction of Glimmer.

“Yea, I wanted to talk to you about something later in private once everyone one else is occupied with dinner.” Catra noticed how Glimmer couldn’t look her in the eye when she asked and a pit formed in her stomach. She assumed it had to do with how she basically got Queen Angella killed.

“Y-yea, just come grab me when you’re ready. I’ll be here…”Catra trailed off knowing this talk was inevitable but dreaded it nonetheless. 

Catra sat there for what felt like an eternity but in reality it was just long enough for Glimmer to finish helping Bow set up the fire and make sure they could do the rest. Glimmer walked over to Catra who was sitting there very stiffly. 

“Hey I’m ready now, we can head outside so we aren’t bothered,” Glimmer extended her hand to Catra as she spoke. Catra snapped out of her endless tirade of thoughts and grabbed Glimmer’s hand to pull herself up. 

Melog got up to leave with them before Catra spoke up, “Hey why don’t you stay here so people aren’t worried?” 

‘ _ I think they'll be suspicious anyway but I’ll stay,’  _ Melog responded to Catra. Catra simply rolled her eyes and Glimmer chuckled at the interaction even though she couldn’t understand Melog. Glimmer led Catra outside and they found a nice patch of grass and sat back to back against each other as they had already become accustomed to doing. The both chuckled as they realized they had both already known the other was going to do the same.

They were both quiet for a while just enjoying the night air until Catra broke the silence, “So, what did you want to talk to me about?” 

Glimmer sighed before answering, “I want to know… what happened after you saved me from Prime’s ship.” To say Catra was shocked was an understatement, that was not the answer she was expecting at all. 

“Okay… Well, what’s the last thing you remember and then I’ll try and go from there.” Catra took a deep breath both out of relief that the conversation wasn’t what she thought it was but also in readying herself because she had tried to repress what happened on the ship.

Glimmer thought for a moment before answering, “Horde Prime’s clones overpowered you while you were teleporting me and trying to talk with Adora.” 

Adora grabbed two bowls of soup from the pot above the fire to grab some dinner for her and Catra. The last time she looked Catra had been sitting against some crates, petting Melog. She smiled as she thought of how content Catra looked but her smile faded when she turned around to find Catra gone. Adora had her panic spike slightly at the sight and started looking around the rest of the base. Her panic continued to rise as she didn’t see Catra anywhere before calming down slightly when she spotted Melog near the entrance. Adora knew that Catra would never leave Melog behind so she couldn’t be too far.

Adora began walking over towards the space cat when she could faintly hear voices outside. She recognized them but could not make out what they were saying. Adora bent down beside Melog to pet them and looked at where Melog had been looking moments before and saw Glimmer and Catra sitting back to back talking outside. Alone. Adora involuntarily had jealousy rise in the depth of her. Adora still couldn’t make out what they were saying but didn’t risk getting caught so she opted to just sit there with Melog and watch the pair. The longer she sat there the more her jealousy grew. 

“When did they get so close, huh? Catra never told me that her and Glimmer talked alone.” Adora said more to herself even though Melog was listening. Adora sat there stewing in her jealousy but noticed that whatever the pair was talking about was serious. Adora could see tears slide down Glimmer’s cheek every so often and even from that distance Adora could see the tear stains on Catra’s face too. Adora was beyond concerned for the two of them but she also couldn’t subside the jealousy building within her at the fact that Catra is probably opening up to Glimmer and not her.

Adora continued to watch them from afar for what felt like an eternity as the pair continued to take turns talking. Finally, Glimmer stood up and said something to Catra and she nodded before Glimmer said something else to which Catra shook her head no at. Glimmer stayed for a moment longer looking at the girl before making her way to the entrance of the base. Adora quickly turned her back to the entrance and began petting Melog again as if she had been doing that the whole time. 

“I didn’t know you and Catra were close,” Adora states nonchalantly as Glimmer walks through the entrance. Glimmer startles at the sound of Adora’s voice and turns to look at her. At first Glimmer isn’t really sure how to respond to that but she can see right through Adora at a closer look and decides to play with her a bit.

“Being stuck together on Prime’s ship will do that,” Glimmer states in the same nonchalant way Adora had earlier. 

Adora huffs before looking at Glimmer, “What were you two talking about?” Adora says it as if she didn’t care what they were talking about but Glimmer could see that Adora was jealous and that she did care. 

“Are you… are you jealous?” Glimmer holds back a small snicker at the fact that Adora of all people gets jealous. 

Adora gawks at her trying to form a coherent sentence, “I- What- No!  **_I_ ** don’t get jealous.” Adora huffs and turns away from Glimmer with her arms crossed. Glimmer laughs at Adora before deciding to call her out.

“Adora it’s not hard to see that you love Catra.” Adora snaps her head in Glimmer’s direction and her face is as red as her jacket.

“I- I don’t know what yo-”

“Oh please, Adora, Bow and I already know. We’re your best friends, of course we would pick up on something like that.” Glimmer smiles at her genuinely but also hides a bit of a smirk. 

Adora sighs before answering, “Yea, I do. I really do love her…” Adora trails off and looks to the entrance of the base with a fond smile while she thinks of Catra.

Glimmer bends down to put a hand on Adora’s knee, “I’m not saying you should do it right now, but you should tell her. Bow and I want you to be happy and it’s obvious that Catra makes you happy even after everything that has happened.” Glimmer gives her a wide, genuine smile. Adora doesn’t say anything but smiles and nods at Glimmer.

“So, what were you two talking about?” Adora asks again but not quite as filled with jealousy as she was before.

Glimmer’s smile fades, “... Our time on Horde Prime’s ship.” Glimmer stands back up again as she continues to talk. Adora’s face turns serious as well knowing Glimmer had a hard enough time with what happened to her and they both knew Catra had it worse. 

“Oh…” was all Adora could muster. She wanted to know more than anything what Catra went through on Prime’s ship. Adora opened her mouth to say something but Glimmer spoke up first.

“I can’t tell you what she went through because it’s not my place, but you should go talk to her. You would be in private so she’d feel safe telling you. You might have to remind her that being afraid doesn’t mean that she’s weak. You also might want to prepare yourself in advance because it’s not a happy story,” Glimmer looks away as she says the last part. 

Glimmer took a deep breath before turning back to Adora, “You really should go talk to her, I think it will help you both. Plus you’ll get to comfort your girlfriend.” Glimmer smirked as she said the last part.

Adora snapped her head to look at Glimmer, “She’s not my girlfriend!” ‘ _ Although I want her to be’ _ Adora’s mind added.

“Yet~” Glimmer shot back at Adora as she walked away to have dinner. Adora let out a sigh but she smiled, happy at the fact that Glimmer accepted the fact that she loved Catra. Adora stood up and brushed herself off and straightened her clothes. She wasn’t aware of it but she had been doing this every time she talked to Catra since she had been back. Adora looked down and her hands were shaking, she didn’t know when she had gotten so nervous but calmed down when Melog nuzzled her leg. Adora smiled as gave Melog’s head one more pat before taking a deep breath and walking out of the base. She had reached Catra but Catra had yet to say anything which made her slightly nervous.

“Hey, Catra,” Adora started trying to start the conversation. Catra didn’t look up from where she sat and continued to look out into the forest.

“Hey, Adora,” It wasn’t that smug greeting she had become used to, it was empty and Adora didn’t realize how much she had looked forward to the smug greeting until she didn’t get it. 

“I was wondering where you had gone off to, I was gonna bring you some dinner.” Adora thought small talk was the best way to ease into talking to her. 

Catra was quiet for a moment before she spoke again, “Thanks, I don’t really have an appetite though.” Catra hugged her knees closer as she answered. Adora took this time to sit down diagonal to Catra, wanting to give her space but also not wanting to block her view of the forest that she had been staring at. 

“Hey… look I’m not going to pressure you into anything you don’t want to talk about but… I would like to know what you went through on Prime’s ship.” Adora found the silence that followed deafening, she could feel her ears ringing. She thinks it would have been better if Catra had just flat out said no, than to keep silent. Adora thinks she will deny her but is startled by her answer.

“... Okay. What do you want to know?” Catra looks at Adora for the first time since they started talking. Adora is speechless not knowing how to respond for a moment but quickly gathers her thoughts.

“Oh, um… why don’t you just start from the beginning when he first beamed you up.” Adora rubs the back of her neck nervously as she watches Catra take a deep, shaky breath. 

“It’s a long story, you sure you want to know?” Catra turns to Adora giving her one more chance to back out if she wanted to.

Adora shook her head, “I have plenty of time, I want to know what happened to you.” Aodra looked Catra in the eye with determination and something else but Catra wasn’t sure what it was. 

“Alright, well he beamed me up and the next thing I know I’m in that throne room. Sparkles, Hordak and I all got beamed up, he didn’t seem to be aware that I was there at first. He wiped Hordak’s consciousness with his bare hands and watched as his body fell to the floor. He turned to Glimmer and was talking like he was gonna get rid of her too before I stepped in. I had been hiding beforehand and told him about the Heart of Etheria and that he needed her if he wanted to activate it. Honestly looking back, I don’t know why I chose to save her then.” Catra trailed off as if she was trying to find the answer but couldn’t. Adora already really didn’t like where this was going and Catra had just started. Adora did have a small smile at the fact that Catra chose to save Glimmer. Catra took another deep breath before continuing on with the story.

“After he had the clones take Glimmer to her holding cell he asked what he should do with me given the fact that Hordak didn’t like me in the end. I told him I’m the only one who knows how to activate the Heart of Etheria so he needs me. For the time being that seemed to work… It didn’t last long.” Catra closed her eyes and lowered her head as she finished that last line. Adora was about to reach for her shoulder when Catra began to talk again.

“For the next couple of days… I guess days, honestly I'm not sure how long I was on that ship it was hard to tell what time it was. I wandered the ship for a while before I found the cell they held Glimmer in. For the time being it was two way and we could both see each other. It took me a while to go and talk to her and once I did we fell back into our usual, I hate you, you hate me. I left and didn’t return for a while and during that time Prime showed me…” Catra’s entire body tensed and Adora put a comforting hand on Catra’s shoulder. Catra gasped but relaxed under Adora’s touch after a few moments. 

Catra took another deep breath before continuing in a shaky voice, “He showed me the room where he ‘cleanses’ the clones. There's a giant pool of green liquid and hundreds of clones watching from the shadows. He had a clone step into the pool while the clones all chanted “Prime casts out all shadows.’ Once the clone was in the pool he electrocuted it until it was almost like he had fried the entire body of the clone to ‘purify’ it. There was smoke rising from the clone so I assume that’s what happened at least, anyway the clone stepped out of the pool and pledged himself to Prime again while the clones in the shadows praised him. He told me not to disappoint him before he left and I just stayed and stared at the pool knowing I was in way over my head. What could I ever do to compare with that and how would I protect myself against it? I realized the answer was that I couldn't. There was nothing I could do to guarantee my safety and protect myself against Prime.” Catra paused briefly to look at Adora and judge her reaction only to see some of the color had drained from her face. Catra understood all too well that feeling as she had been the one to see it in the first place. Adora looks at Catra and can see the sweat broken out over her forehead and her hands shaking as she grips her knees tighter.

“Hey.. it’s okay to be afraid you know? I was afraid too back when I was on his ship. It doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human.” Adora offered as Catra let her words sink in and processed them. 

“... Good to know that I am still human.”

Before Adora could respond Catra continued on, “Well, after that I went to go see Glimmer in her cell. Honestly I don’t really know why I did, I think even though she was my enemy, it was still nice to see a familiar face. At first Glimmer was like she always was, angry and asked why I was even there. I was still a little shaken from earlier so I couldn’t come up with an answer so I began to walk away but she called out for me to stay. She sat with her back against the barrier and I took that as my cue to do the same. We talked for a long time about mostly nothing but just talking to be talking. She said something and it made me think so I got up and left not wanting to talk about it. I came back every day for a while and we would do the same thing, just talk about random, meaningless things, until one day a clone caught us. He was angry with me having said that I wasn’t allowed on this part of the ship and to be talking with her. He got ready to hit me before Prime possessed him and told me it was dangerous to disobey his orders. He also said that he was waiting for both of us in the dining room. He gave the clone his body back, released Glimmer and we followed the clone to Prime.” Catra took a minute to catch her breath and recall the next part of the story while Adora’s mind was swimming with thoughts. It kept going back to one in particular though, the pool of green liquid that fried the minds of the clones. If that was true then did Catra-

“When we got to the dining room he showed us footage from Etheria, it showed your camp getting attacked by his robots and you getting overpowered by them. Glimmer screamed at him to stop and that he would never get his hands on the Heart of Etheria. Prime wasn’t very happy with her answer but just had her escorted back to her cell. He…” Catra thought for a moment and thought it was better not to tell Adora about the first part of their conversation. 

Adora noticed Catra’s apprehension, “He what?” Adora put a hand on her knee before Catra shook her head as if to clear her head and Adora retracted her hand.

“I asked him what he was gonna do with me and he said that I was to get information on you from her. He told me that there was a report of an ancient ship leaving Etheria’s atmosphere but that he couldn’t track it. He wanted me to confirm if that was you or not from Glimmer. After that I was making my way to Glimmer’s cell when I noticed a clone entering a room I hadn’t seen before so I snuck in. It was a teleport room and I watched as one of the clones teleported a pair to a different planet. Before I could get caught I ran back out and made my way to Glimmer’s holding cell. One of the clones let me in since I was supposed to be gathering intel on your ship from Glimmer. I led her into the room a bit because I could see the silhouette of the clone against the barrier. I asked her if she knew anything about it and her face said everything. She pleaded with me not to tell Prime, that I knew what he would do to you if he caught you. I told her all I had to do was let it happen and she started crying. She pleaded with me again and told me to do one good thing in my life. I pulled away and told her not to talk to me like she knew me and left the cell.” While Adora knew in the end Catra made the right choice and is working on being a better person, she would be lying to say that it didn’t sting.

Catra continued after another deep breath, “For the next several days I walked around and had lots of time to think and ultimately I knew I could never do it. I could never let you walk right into his trap so I waited for a clone to bring Glimmer’s meal and knocked him out. At first she was still angry with me and asked what I was doing when I opened the cell. I told her that I wanted to do that one good thing in my life like she said and she took my hand as I led her through the corridors.” While what Catra said earlier had stung her this stung her even more, the fact that Glimmer was the one to get through to Catra and not herself. Adora kept listening intently though because she knew that this was the part where she had sent Glimmer to her and Bow in space.

“We made it into the teleport room and I got her to stand on the launch pad while I closed the doors and got everything in order. We said some things to each other while I was trying to get the transmission to you and keep the clones out. Obviously you know what went down, I sent Glimmer to you and the transmission shut off. I had sent Glimmer to you so I stopped fighting the cones and let them take me to Prime. I thought for sure he was gonna kill me right there on the spot.” Catra let out a mirthless laugh as a shiver went down her body as she was remembering the incident. Adora felt her heart stop at Catra’s admission and laugh. Adora realized Catra thought she was going to die but still sent Glimmer to her to try and save her anyway.

“Anyway… I told him it didn’t matter what he did to me because Glimmer was gone and… that you were on your way back to Etheria already. He laughed and told me that I was wrong, that I would be of use to him yet.” Adora had a chill gone down her spine, she can only imagine what Catra would have felt in that moment.

“After that he got a pair of clones to carry me to the room with the green liquid. I didn’t even try to fight back at that point because it didn’t matter. They put me in the pool and he started the process of the electrocution. I remember the sound of my own scream and my voice becoming hoarse. I remember pulling my hands up as if to grasp for the air my lungs didn’t have… I remember his smug grin when I looked at him. After that I must have blacked out. I- I don’t remember much after that point, they must have implanted the chip. The next thing I remember is seeing you on your hands and knees in front of Prime before everything went green again. After that point I remember small things from our fight, I guess where I was trying to fight the chip so hard. I remember seeing you again with my back against something and then I remember waking up and you there. I told you that you shouldn’t have come back but you told me that I mattered. I remember fighting it when I was near the edge asking if you promised to take me home… The last thing I remembered after that was him giving me consciousness back fully and then trying to electrocute me with the chip. He knew what he was doing and gave me full control on purpose, it was so that I would feel the full extent of the pain. I remember falling through the air but that's it. Next thing I know I’m on your ship,” Catra is silent after that. Adora is quiet as she takes in the full story, if you could even call it that, it was more of a nightmare that Catra had gone through. Adora knew that Catra had gone through hell but she still didn’t expect it to have been that bad. Adora was glad more than ever that she had decided to go back for Catra. Adora didn’t even want to consider the possibilities of what could have happened if she didn’t and Catra was still chipped and stuck on that ship. Adora admits to herself that this is the happiest she’s been in a long time and it’s no secret that Catra coming back was the main reason. Adora still feels guilty over what Catra went through, especially being electrocuted in that pool and having a chip implanted. 

“Catra I-”

“Don’t apologize. You have nothing to apologize for, I knew there were going to be dire consequences when I made the decision. You have nothing to apologize for, I-... I’m really glad you came back for me, thank you.” Adora sat in stunned silence for what felt like an eternity. Catra was right she didn’t need to apologize for anything but that didn’t change the fact that she still wanted to. Adora was more stunned by the fact Catra said she was glad she had gone back for her. After the shock factor had worn off Adora smiled and hugged Catra to which the other tensed up immediately at the contact but slowly hugged Adora back.

“I would never have left you there.” Adora lets her tears run freely down her face as she hugs the woman she loves but doesn’t say anything. The time isn’t right. Catra also let her tears fall as she embraced the woman she loves but also didn’t say anything. Adora had to save the world, the time wasn’t right. 

“And I’m glad you’re here now.” Adora added as she hugged just a little tighter which gave Catra a sense of security and safety for the first time in three years. 

“Me too.”


End file.
